Lantern candles are used, for example, as grave lights or decorative lights and have casings for better handling, for avoiding hot candle wax running out or dripping, and for decorative purposes.
Already at the beginning of the 20th century, candles inserted into cup-like containers, so-called lantern candles, were used, their containers being initially made out of metal and later out of paper or cardboard due to their lower heat conduction. A lantern candle comprising a paraffin wax candle and a paper or cardboard cup for receiving it is known, for example, from DE-C-312931, wherein a metal lid having an opening for the wick is arranged at the open side of the cup. Since the material of the container needs to be resistant against atmospheric influences, such as in the case of grave lights, the paper or cardboard was substituted in subsequent development by colored plastic materials, in particular, PVC.
Such lantern candles generally comprise a plastic cup with a wax candle, generally made of paraffin wax, inserted or poured into the cup and a wick. Often a protective or decorative metal lid is provided at the opening of the cup. Depending on size, the candles have a burning time between several hours and several days.
The draw-back of lantern candles having a plastic casing is that, after burning down, the lantern candle is not completely biodegradable or recyclable due to the use of the plastic cup material. Although the metallic components of the lid may be recyclable, the plastic material of the casing is seldom recyclable and, moreover, when burned, forms toxic gases, in particular, hydrogen chloride in case of PVC cups.
To solve this problem, document EP 0 437 662 by the Applicant proposes a lantern candle having an environmentally friendly, biodegradable or burnable casing made of a multi-layer paper laminate. Also in terms of aesthetic appearance, the casing made of paper laminate has advantages with respect to the plastic material because paper can be more easily printed upon with diverse colors and diverse patterns as well as photographs.
Although this solution constitutes a step ahead in terms of environmentally friendly disposal of the burnt-down lantern candle as compared to candles with a plastic casing, the conventional paper casing is not completely satisfactory in terms of light diffusion and aesthetic appearance. If the candle is burning, light from the flame initially only passes through a region of the casing lying approximately at the same height as the burning wig. Only after a sufficient proportion of candle wax has melted and the paper casing has been soaked, the whole area of the paper casing contributes to a uniform light diffusion, and a so-called translucent effect can be achieved. However, this happens only after some hours, a fact that is not acceptable if the light is to be used as a decorative light, for instance at home. Further, there is a danger that a casing gets soaked incompletely or not uniformly, leading to ugly darker and lighter stains on the casing.